The context
Almost all the adults and working children in MAYA's working areas belong to the working poor and operate in the informal economy. As individuals with few connections to formal institutions, the working poor cannot respond well to the ever-changing requirements of the labour market. They have few marketable skills, and opportunities for improving skill-levels or working conditions are limited. Incomes are low, and in most cases, below minimum wages. They have little bargaining power with employers, employment is often irregular, and therefore, lack any sort of income security. Bargaining power at the economic, social, and political levels is similarly lacking. Disorganisation pervades every aspect of their lives, which limits their ability to plan for the future and affects household spending patterns. Families often suffer extreme indebtedness. Finally, it is the functioning of community life that suffers. These aspects of poverty contribute to the incidence of child labour.
MAYA's experience has shown that all people are capable of exerting power over their lives and their situations, given the proper structures and opportunities. However, the working poor lack a structure for collective articulation of their basic requirements as workers and as community members with the Government, markets and other formal bodies. Due to this, individuals perceive their situations as their own personal problems, rather than as structural problems impacting wide swaths of society.
In MAYA's understanding, in order to address the livelihood issues of the working poor, collective, rather than individualistic, entrepreneurial development is essential. While it is neither possible nor desirable for every individual to become an entrepreneur, in collective groups, the poor have the capacity to develop many new skills and strengths, and to capitalize upon existing strengths of group members. Through the process of group learning and experience, the poor can come to wield greater political, economic and social power. It is in this context that MAYA has initiated MAYA ORGANIC and LabourNet.
MAYA ORGANIC - MAYA ORGANIC is an institutional approach which provides a formal structure to the informal sector as the working poor organise themselves into worker-owned collective enterprises. The collectives are designed to mutually benefit the members as they share learning opportunities for new skills and as their understanding of their lives changes and grows. MAYA ORGANIC enables the collectives to exist in a mutually beneficial partnership with the formal industry and the markets.
LabourNet - LabourNet addresses issues of workforce development in the construction sector by networking all stakeholders in the sector. This approach routes workers to jobs, encourages skill development, influences policy, and facilitates access to social security schemes for the construction workforce. LabourNet seeks to offer a legitimate framework for skill development for workers and fair practices by employers.
